Southampton slam ‘unacceptable’ Spygate punishment and issue apology | Football | Sport
Southampton have released a statement (Image: Getty)
Southampton have confirmed that they have appealed the decision to expel them from the Championship play-offs after admitting to spying on three of their Championship rivals. They have also slammed the punishment.
The Saints have been replaced by Middlesbrough in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. Boro will now take on Hull City in Saturday’s final for a place in the Premier League.
However, the outcome of the appeal could potentially change that, with Southampton arguing against the harshness of the punishment. The club have admitted responsibility, but believe that the punishment doesn’t suit the crime, pointing to examples of other clubs.
In a statement, the club’s chief executive Phil Parsons has said:
“We have appealed yesterday’s decision by the Independent Disciplinary Commission to expel Southampton Football Club from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs, and to impose a four-point deduction for the 2026/27 season. Before turning to that appeal, I want to address our supporters, our players, and the wider football community directly and without equivocation.
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Southampton manager Tonda Eckert (Image: Getty)
“What happened was wrong. The club has admitted breaches of EFL Regulations 3.4 and 127. We are sorry to the other clubs involved, and most of all to the Southampton supporters whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club.
“We have provided our full co-operation to the EFL’s investigation and disciplinary process. Following the appeal, we will also be writing to the EFL to volunteer our participation in a working group on the practical application and enforcement of Regulation 127 across the Championship. Contrition without change is hollow, and we intend to demonstrate change.
“On the appeal itself: we accept that there should be a sanction. What we cannot accept is a sanction which bears no proportion to the offence. Whereas Leeds United was fined £200,000 for a similar offence, Southampton has been denied the opportunity to compete in a game worth more than £200 million and one which means so much to our staff, players and supporters.
“We believe the financial consequence of yesterday’s ruling makes it, by a very considerable distance, the largest penalty ever imposed on an English football club. Luton Town’s 30-point deduction in 2008/09 — to date the most severe sporting sanction in the English game — was levied against a club already in League Two, with no comparable revenue at stake.
“Derby County’s 21-point deduction in 2021 cost them their Championship status. Everton’s eventual six-point deduction in 2023/24 followed losses of £124.5 million, a figure dwarfed by what has been taken from Southampton in a single afternoon. The largest financial penalty ever levied by the Premier League, against Chelsea in March of this year, was £10.75 million, and was accompanied by no sporting sanction whatsoever despite involving £47.5 million in undisclosed payments over seven years.
“We say this not to minimise what occurred at this club, which we have accepted was wrong. We say it because proportionality is itself a principle of natural justice. The Commission was entitled to impose a sanction. It was not, we will argue, entitled to impose one that is manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game.
“Our appeal will be heard today, and we will provide a further update in due course.”
As well as admitting to secretly filming Middlesbrough’s training session in the build-up to the first leg of the play-off semi-final, Southampton have also admitted to similar offences ahead of their Championship games against Oxford and Ipswich Town.
The appeal will be heard on Wednesday, with a decision expected within 24 hours. The case has been fast-tracked with the Wembley final just days away.
